New Portals, New Times, New Heroes
by WritingNonsense
Summary: When a soldier with extreme magical abilities named Baptiste gets a hold of one of Lana's Gates of Time (weapon), he uses his magic to open a gate to see what he's able to do. However, when the dark magic left behind after the events of the game corrupt him, a new fight begins to find and stop this man before he achieves whatever goal he's reaching for.
1. It Begins Again

It had started during a training session. Link had been working with some of the new recruits, showing them what stances to use and when, and what sort of fights to expect on the field. Zelda had been speaking with Impa about various plans to expand political reaches into the nearby Death Mountain to gain some sort of alliance with the Gorons of their time. And Lana and Cia had been off doing whatever guardians of time itself does when something went wrong.

Lana and Cia appeared in the courtyard with a twirl of the Gate of Time and a bright flash of light, magic weaving through the blades of grass and into the air as the two women stepped out of it, dressed in the same outfit they had been wearing for the entire war the first time around - minus Cia's hat, strangely enough. All training in the yard stopped as the recruits looked at the arriving women - must have been a strange sight for them, since they weren't there when the women fought the first time - and Link let the wooden sword he was using rest against the ground as they walked forward, heading towards him as soon as they saw him.

"Link!" Lana called, running towards him with Cia hot on her heels. "Someone is opening the Gates of Time again!" she said, sounding almost hysterical. "I don't know who it is, but whoever it is has powerful magic!" she said quickly, her breath coming out in quick pants as she looked at him.

Link put a hand on her shoulder while Cia helped her stand up straight, rubbing her back lightly as her 'good' half took deep and frantic breaths. "Lana, calm down - you're going to pass out!" Cia said quickly, making motions with her hands as she took deep breaths, finally getting Lana to breath along with her. When Lana was no longer hyperventilating, Cia turned to look at Link, keeping her hand on Lana's back. "Is Princess Zelda here? We need to talk to her so we can try to figure out what's going on and try to stop it before something bad happens," she explained.

Link nodded and motioned for the two of them to follow him before motioning for the other recruits to start packing everything up. He handed his wooden sword off to the recruit he had been training with before leading the way into the castle with Cia and Lana on his heels. He didn't even bother knocking before pushing the heavy doors open, making both Impa and Zelda look up from the table, Impa looking rather upset with him barging in like this. "Link, what's the meaning of this? We're in the middle of a meeting!"

Zelda noticed Cia and Lana standing behind Link and waved for Impa to be quiet. "Cia, Lana, it's good to see you two again," she said with a nod in greeting, motioning for them to come in. She continued only when Link had closed the door behind them. "Is there a reason for you coming, or do you just want to say hello for old time's sake?" she asked, smiling a little bit, though it wasn't returned.

"Afraid we don't have a happy reason for our visit this time. Someone has opened one of the Gates of Time, but we don't know who or how they did it. We both decided we wanted to come and tell you in case worse comes to worse and we ended up with another war on our hands," Cia explained, making Zelda frown. "We've managed to narrow it down to where the gate opened, but we still don't know who could be opening it."

Zelda nodded a little bit as she listened, thinking for a moment as she exchanged a look with Impa. "That really isn't good news. Would you mind if the three of us went with you to approach whoever's opening the gates? I wouldn't like for either of you to get hurt," she said, focusing on the two of them again.

"Of course, Princess," Lana agreed with a nod. "The more backup we get in a situation like this is, the better it will be in the long run. But if we're going to catch whoever is opening these gates, then we need to get moving before they figured out that we're after him," she said, already turning around to head back the way they had come.

The group followed behind Cia and Lana as they lead the way towards the still open gate, pausing just outside it to change where it would let them out. "Alright, this should let us out where the gates are opening, so you all need to be careful so you don't get hurt," Lana said, looking back at the group.

When she got a nod from everyone standing behind her, she and Cia led the way through the gate, stepping out into a large and empty field. For a second, everything looked normal; then, Link could make out the color of the gates against the blue. And after a bit more looking, he could pick out the shape of someone standing in front of one of the gates.

"Who are you? What do you think you're doing?" Impa called up, already heading towards the figure, leaving the others no choice but to follow her. She was already reaching back towards the nagitana strapped to her back.

The figure turned back to face them, but to Link's surprise, it wasn't any villain they had already fought against; it was just some random guy. "I'm opening a gate. I just wanted to expand my magical skill," he said, his voice flat. "My name is Baptiste."

Lana shook her head as she stepped in front of Impa. "You can't open gates like this! It's too dangerous - you don't know what could come through it!" she called before starting to move forward. She didn't get far before running headlong into something that none of them could see. "What is this - let me through!" she shouted, pounding on the invisible wall as Baptiste turned around again.

"...I don't think I will," Baptiste said with a soft chuckle, listening to Lana pound her fists on the wall before leaving through one of the gates. It flashed brightly before the one he went through faded away, leaving the other two behind.

As soon as he was gone, whatever had been holding Lana back seemed to vanish and she ran forward as though she was going to be able to catch up to him. When Link arrived, the other two gates were beginning to pulse with more magical energy. Lana was picking something up off the ground when several people wandered through the two open gates; Darunia and Ruto came out of one, and Agitha and Midna out of the other.

"Lana, what's going on?" Impa asked after looking over the equally confused arrivals, frowning down at the bluenette. The newcomers gathered around her as well, waiting for an answer.

Lana stood up, a blue ring hanging from her hands, making Cia gasp. "Lana, what's one of your Time Gates doing out here? And how did that guy - that Baptiste guy get it?" she asked, shaking her head and putting one hand over her mouth. "I thought you said you brought them all back with you!"

Lana shook her head quickly, her hands shaking as she held the Time Gate closely to her chest. "I thought I did! And I didn't think Hylians could use them - I didn't know any of them had magic that powerful!" she said, her voice trembling as she bit at her lip. "If he could use magic to open the gates, then there's a chance that he was corrupted by the dark magic left behind from the first time they were used! Imagine what that could do to magic already that powerful!" she looked over at Cia frantically.

Zelda stepped in then, putting a hand on Lana's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down once again. "It could end up being dangerous. We need to locate him and stop him before he opens anymore gates and lets through something dangerous. Impa," she turned to look at Impa, who straightened when her name was said. "I want you and Link to go and prepare the troops; I feel we have another fight on our hands. Arm yourselves again, friends; we have another fight to win."


	2. Through the Gates

The search ultimately took them back to the Temple of Souls, left in disarray after Cia had left it behind. The plants had wilted and died and dying vines wrapped tightly around the various statues and columns, no longer kept alive by the magic Cia had. Outside of the main temple, there wasn't any signs of anyone being there. It was left largely the same aside from the dying and over-grown plants. But Lana assured them that Baptiste was here and he was opening another gate - they just had to find him before he caused too much trouble.

The small handful of soldiers they had brought with them kept close as Lana and Cia took the lead, leading them through the winding halls of the temple in search of Baptiste, who was still nowhere to be seen. Even though Cia had thought he would be in the main room, where she had trapped Link and forced him to fight a handful of Dark Links, he wasn't there, so that meant that he could reasonably be anywhere in the temple or the garden - it was a large area to cover with such a small group of people. But, they all agreed it would be better not to split up; they still didn't know what Baptiste wanted to do with the Gates of Time, and they didn't know what he could do with his magic, so they didn't want to be caught off guard by him.

One by one, they were able to eliminate various rooms; he wasn't in the garden since all three rooms were empty, and the rooms on the main floor of the temple were empty as well, leaving just three on the top floor. Running around such a large area had taken its tole on everyone in the group, so it was a stroke of luck that the next room they went to explore had exactly who they were looking for.

In one of the western rooms, Baptiste was standing with his back to the group of soldiers, another Gate already opening wide in front of him. Magic blew his hair and clothes back, kicking up dust and blowing it into Lana and Cia's eyes. Even over the audible rush of wind and magic, it seemed he was able to hear them arrive and turned around, flashing them a wide grin and throwing both arms out to his sides. "So you found me!" he shouted with a laugh, still barely audible over the howling wind and his magic.

Lana held one hand in front of her face to block the harsh winds and the dust, squinting her eyes to see Baptiste against the pulsing light of the Gate behind him. "Baptiste, you have to stop!" she shouted, trying to take a few steps forward against the wind. "This is dangerous - you could destroy Hyrule!" she continued, still trying to move forward.

With each step closer she took, the wind only got stronger and it got harder to move, and soon she was just walking in place. But Baptiste was still standing strong, his arms out. "Why should I stop? This is beautiful! My magic - it's so much stronger than it ever has been - I don't want it to stop now!" he said with a loud laugh, throwing his head back and closing his eyes to relish in the feeling - in the bliss of his own magic. "I never thought being so powerful would be so amazing!"

Cia stepped foward this time, only managing to take a few steps past Lana before she was stopped by the wind as well. "Baptiste, listen to me! You're going down the same path I did - this isn't worth it! Close the Gate and come back - we can still purge the dark magic out of you!" she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth so she could be heard over all the noise. The soft murmur and worried calls of the soldiers behind them were lost to the wind, and all Cia could hear now was the wind and the rush of magic going through her veins like burning hot blood; where had all this magic come from?

"You were just too weak to finish your goal!" Baptiste shouted, his words clearly striking a chord with Cia, as she took a small step back, her mouth hanging open a bit. "You weren't strong enough to keep this beauty going - you were too eager to do what someone said! Well, guess what? I'm acting on my own!" he said with another laugh. "And I'm going to do what you never could!" he thrust his arms above his head, another blast of magic making the Gate throb once again, the light becoming blinding and the wind even stronger.

Lana couldn't keep her footing anymore and stumbled back into the group of soldiers behind her. She was caught by one and pulled back behind the door and to the wall to protect her from the magic, Cia showing up beside her before long. The light was visible in the hall, leaving scorch marks on the stone floors and growing brighter by the second. With another rush of wind that nearly swept the entire group away, everything stopped.

The wind stopped blowing and the magic pulsing through her veins eventually faded away, leaving only her magic behind. And when Lana opened her eyes again, the glowing had stopped, though it had left a clear mark on the stone floor of the hall. Without saying anything, she pushed off the wall and ran back into the room, skidding to a halt. She stumbled forward as Cia ran into her, grabbing onto the other girl's arm as she looked around at the room.

The floors and walls were all burnt, magic still wafting from deep marks and scratches on the floor. A large oval was burnt into the back wall where the Gate had been open, though there wasn't a sign of it now. The Gate and Baptiste had both vanished, and Lana was willing to guess that he had gone through it - wherever it lead, he would be there now.

"Lana." Lana turned around to face Cia, who had a worried frown on her face. "Another Gate has been opened - I can feel it. It's been opened in the Valley of Seers - he's moving and he's moving fast. We need to get going and get the others!" she said, already starting to tug Lana towards the door.

Lana nodded dumbly after a moment, running after Cia when she got her footing. "Right! One of you!" she looked back over her shoulder at the soldiers running behind them. "Go and contact Princess Zelda! I'll open a few more gates at Hyrule Castle for them to get through; tell her to bring more soldiers!" she shouted and a few of them nodded.

When they were in the garden again, Lana and Cia made quick work of opening a gate of their own; much less dangerous than the one Baptiste had opened, mind you. She ushered the soldiers through, making sure to leave one behind before opening a gate for him. "Tell her what happened and where we're going; we'll wait for you all there." She got a nod and a salute from the soldier before he ran through the gate.

When the gate was closed and gone, Lana looked over at Cia, who nodded and lead the way through their gate, which closed with a flash of light behind them, leaving the garden empty once again.

With a flash of light and a flourish of magic, a portal opened in the empty courtyard once again. The soldier stumbled out and looked around wildly before sprinting into the castle, not bothering to check if the gate closed behind him. With a few sloppy turns down the halls, he found himself at the meeting room and pushed the doors open quickly, taking a few deep breaths as the people in the room all turned to look at him.

"What news do you have for us?" Impa asked while Agatha stepped forward to help him into the room. "Did you stop Baptiste from opening another gate?" she continued, everyone else waiting silently for his answer.

The soldier shook his head, taking a few more breaths before straightening and saluting. "No, ma'am! Baptiste managed to get away again." that sentence alone got a bad reaction from everyone in the room, ranging from gasps to uncomfortable shifting in their seats. "And Miss Lana and Miss Cia are both worried about his magical abilities; he left scorch marks in the floor from the magic he used to open and control the gates. Miss Cia said that he was opening another gate in the Valley of Seers and insisted that you all come along in case he's there with an army!" he said quickly, not dropping his stiff stance as he waited for an answer.

Zelda looked over at Link and Impa with a worried frown before looking around at the other people in the room, all of whom looked equally upset by the not so good news. "Of course, we'll go," she said with a nod, standing up slowly. "Have Lana and Cia opened a gate for us?" she asked, and the soldier nodded. "Impa, go and rally a few more troops for us. I'll take the others through the gate to see if we can figure out anything beforehand," she said, and Impa nodded.

With that, everyone began to move at once. Impa and the soldier went to gather more soldiers to fight while the rest of the group - Zelda, Link, Agatha, Ruto, Darunia, and Midna - made their way out to the gate in the courtyard, not hesitating before stepping through, each already equipped with their weapons of choice.

When they stepped into the Valley of Seers, there was already a Gate opened at the peak, but just as the soldier said they would be, Lana and Cia were waiting with the soldiers at the base of the temple, Lana pacing back and forth while Cia was talking quietly with the troops she had with her. "Lana! Cia!" Zelda called, jogging up to the two of them. "Have you figured out anything new?" she asked, looking between them with a frown.

Both of them shook their head. "We haven't yet - but this Gate isn't nearly as powerful or dangerous as the last one he opened was," Cia explained, getting another nod in agreement from Lana. "With all of you here, we should get up to the peak of the temple and see what the gate may be letting through; maybe we can close it while we're up there," she said, already turning around to lead the way up.

Zelda nodded, letting her take the lead. "I'm sure you two will figure something out!" Proxi chimed in, circling around the group before vanishing into Link's hat once again.

"Have we figured out who Baptiste is yet?" Midna asked, running up towards the front of the group on the back of her shadow wolf. "It's hard figuring out how to fight an enemy if you know nothing about them," she pointed out.

Lana shook her head. "We haven't figured out anything about him other than he has outrageous magical abilities - I haven't seen any Hylian with magic that powerful," she said, speaking over her shoulder so the others could hear her say it. "If we don't stop him, I'm afraid what kind of damage he could do, opening gates like this all over the place!"

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, they reached the peak. Another gate was opened at the back of the room, but there was no sign of Baptiste. It was empty aside from the gate; and more bad news was about to come. "More Gates have been opened!" Cia said, sounding as frantic as Lana usually would. "There's one at the Great Deku Tree, one at the Temple of The Sacred Sword, and another in Gerudo Valley!"

Zelda scowled and looked between Link and Impa. "Then we need to split up. Link and I will go through this Gate and see what's behind it. Impa, Darunia, and Ruto can go through the Gate at the Great Deku Tree. Agatha and Lana can go through the one in the Temple of the Sacred Sword, and Cia and Midna can go through the one in Gerudo Valley," she said, getting a nod from each member of the group. "I wish you all the best of luck; hopefully it won't be anything that causes permanent damage to any places that the Gates open to."

With that, Cia and Lana opened gates for the others to pass through and they split into the groups Zelda gave them. Link steeled his nerves for whatever was waiting on the other side of this Gate; hopefully it would be somewhere that he knew and recognized, but he wasn't going to get his hopes up. Only one way to find out, though.

He had to keep going.


	3. Crossbows and The Mask of Legend

(AN: I wanted to explain this now so I don't get a whole bunch of questions about it: there is some magic always in use during battles. There's a spell to protect the fighters, which is how I explain there being no blood. It makes the skin as strong as stone and makes it hard to cut through it, though warriors often walk away with bruises; if the enemies are powered up there's a higher chance of their weapons being able to cut through the spell.

And the other spell is one for communication, which explains how everyone is able to talk across giant battlefields. While the voices of your allies are the strongest, you can pick out voices of your enemies if you focus on it.)

By the time Impa, Ruto, and Darunia had passed through the gate, a battle had already begun. Troops that Impa didn't recognize were in various keeps scattered across the map, and she could already pick up their chatter. She, Ruto, and Darunia split up, and Impa made her way to the Great Deku Tree itself to see if someone there was willing to tell her what was going on. Any enemies she came across were swiftly downed, getting confused but thankful looks from the nameless and faceless soldiers she had helped.

She reached the Great Deku Tree with little trouble and looked around at the soldiers for someone who looked like a high enough rank to help her figure out what was going on. However, one approached her instead, and she took a small step back to give herself some distance in case she needed it. "Why are you all here?" she asked with a scowl, doing her best not to look too intimidating. She still needed this guy to tell her what exactly was going on.

"We followed the suggestion of a small village who said a thief had stolen something from one of their people and came out to help her. But, by the time we got here, there were already monsters and the girl was fighting with something - I haven't been able to find her myself, but you can hear her talking all the time," he explained, waving a hand out to motion to his troops. "She won't tell any of us who she's after or even what they stole from her, but we can't let someone fight so many monsters on their own, so we stayed here to help her fight."

Impa nodded a little bit, somewhat relieved to know that it didn't seem like anything had been let through yet; monsters had gotten to the Great Deku Tree before and they would be dealt with as many times as they needed to be. "I see. I'm glad that you decided to stay and help her, and since I have business here with a few friends of my own, we'll help you fight off these monsters and help the girl get back whatever was stolen from her," she said, getting a thankful nod and a salute from the soldier. "If you need help, feel free to call out for it; someone should come and lend you a hand."

She didn't wait for an answer before she left, pulling her nagitana out again and holding it at the ready. "Ruto, Darunia," she spoke aloud, scanning the tree around her for any enemies that needed to be dealt with. "I found out what's going on. Until we end this fight, we aren't going to be able to look for the Gate. Help the soldiers fight the monsters and keep an eye out for a girl chasing after something - they came out here to help her find something that was stolen from her."

Darunia and Ruto both confirmed their understanding and Impa let herself focus on what was going on now, sprinting into the first keep that didn't belong to her allies. She cut monsters down in hoards, watching their bodies vanish into purple dust before being replaced with another just a few seconds later. She fought on fearlessly, dealing with them one by one until she lured out the leader. A few well timed hits and an explosion later, the keep was theres and soldiers were already starting to take the place of the monsters.

Just then, in another flourish of magic that pushed Impa's hair into her face, something appeared behind her. She spun around and jumped back, holding her nagitana out in front of her defensively. Floating off the ground in front of her, nearly eye level with her, was a little imp like thing - it looked like the pictures of Skull Children that the books in the library had, at least in dress. However, the mask he wore was different: it was heart shaped, decorated in spikes and covered in colors of reds and purples with bulging orange eyes.

Twirling an ocarina in one hand and with a pair of fairies flying circles around its head, the Skull Kid cackled as it circled around the keep Impa was in, seeming to find joy in everyone in the room trying to keep their eye on this mysterious new figure. "So many new people to play with!" it cackled, sounding like a young child.

Impa scowled and shook her head, planting her feet in the ground so she wouldn't keep twisting around to watch the thing run circles around them. "Who are you?" she asked sharply, figuring that if this thing wanted to act like a child, then she could treat it like one. If it wasn't going to give her the answers she needed, then she was just going to ignore it until it started causing trouble.

"You stupid little imp! Get back here and give me my compass!" Another voice joined in the chorus that already echoed around them. A young blond-haired girl in a green cloak and brown boots burst into the keep, going for the Skull Kid and taking aim with her two crossbows.

As soon as the girl appeared, the 'imp' vanished with another flash of magic and high pitched giggles that just didn't sound natural, followed by a typically childish taunt to come and find him if she really wanted it back. The girl huffed and shook her head, and Impa grabbed her by the back of her cloak as she tried to run past. "And just who are you?" she asked, putting a hand firmly on the girl's shoulder to keep her from running off in search of the imp.

Looking at the girl now, she looked fairly similar to Link. Blond hair held in tight braids hanging over her shoulders, a green cloak with a hood that Impa had pulled down when she grabbed her, and some kind of blue necklace hanging around her neck. She looked surprised at being stopped, but somehow managed to flash Impa a grin. "My name's Linkle!" she said before suddenly remembering why she was there. "You have to help me catch that imp!" she said, pouting up at Impa. "He stole my compass - that was a gift from my grandmother!"

Impa nodded after a short moment of thought. "I'll help you," she agreed, getting a grin and a cheer from Linkle. "But you need to tell me who I'm fighting; I've never seen anything like him," she said, following Linkle as she took the lead. Impa had no idea where Linkle was going, but apparently she had a place in mind as she ran across the winding branches, roots, and bridges without hesitation.

"He calls himself Skull Kid, but I don't know much about him. He just sort of showed up and stole my compass - I was going to the castle after hearing that it was attacked!" Linkle explained, shouting over her shoulder as she ran, not bothering to stop so Impa could hear her clearer. "Then Skull Kid happened and I had to stop! It's really lucky that you showed up when you did, though!" Impa could almost hear the smile in her voice and she had to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

Even though she doubted the girl really knew what she was doing, Impa continued to let her lead the way around the various keeps and rooms formed by twisting roots in the Deku Tree. Every time they found Skull Kid, he vanished again before they could do anything, so it was like a game of cat and mouse, and Impa was starting to get tired of it. Before she could voice her complaints, Linkle came to a screeching halt that almost had Impa plowing into her - almost. "He's at the fairy fountain!" she said suddenly, though Impa had no idea how she would know that.

Once again, Linkle left Impa no time to ask any questions before dashing off to who knows where, leaving Impa little choice but to follow. There were almost no monsters left by the time they crossed the Deku Tree's roots for what felt like the millionth time that day, so they got from one end to the other with little trouble. Linkle took the stairs two at a time, and Impa had to take them three at a time just to keep up with her; even if the girl wasn't mature, Impa would confess that she was fast.

As Linkle had said, Skull Kid was floating just above the fountain inside the large stone room, tossing his ocarina in one hand as he looked around. For a second, Impa thought that they had finally gotten the upper hand and had snuck up on him, but he played a severely out of tune note on his ocarina. The two fairies at his sides - a yellow one and a purple one - launched towards them faster than Impa had seen fairies move before. And when they hit Linkle in the chest, they nearly knocked her off her feet and left her gasping for air.

Skull Kid cackled, kicking his legs out in the air as he twisted around to look at them, the eyes of his mask boring down into them. "You two are a lot of fun to play with!" he laughed once again, folding his arms over his stomach and keeping his ocarina tightly in one of his hands - Impa doubted that she would be getting it from him any time soon. "You aren't very good at playing tag, though - I had to wait for you two up here and you still haven't caught me!" his laughter never seemed to stop and if he had been on the ground, Impa guessed he would have been doubled over with how hard he was laughing at them now. And Impa would be lying if she said being laughed at like this by what was essentially a child wasn't annoying her at least a little bit.

She pushed her annoyance to the side and stepped in front of Linkle, who finally seemed to be getting her breath back after being hit by the fairies, and pulled out her nagitana, pointing it towards Skull Kid with a grunt. "You are going to give back what you stole and tell me where you came from!" she demanded, glaring up at Skull Kid with a deep frown. If she could intimidate this thing into giving her the answers she needed, she could do what she needed to without fighting or searching on her own so much; she had the sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't nearly be that easy, though. If Skull Kid was laughing at them like this in the midst of a battle, then he must have something else under his belt; Impa hadn't heard of a Skull Kid acting like this before.

Skull Kid's laughter died away, but his voice was still light with it, and not being able to hear him just laugh at her got Impa even more annoyed at it. "Make me tell you!" he said, pointing one gloved finger at her. Before Impa could move a muscle at the clear invitation for a fight, Skull Kid raised his ocarina and played another off key note and the fairies lunged forward again. Even though Impa could summon her shield before they hit her, the impact against her shield made her wrist twinge in pain and she scowled; she couldn't afford to get hit by Skull Kid's attacks if they were this strong.

Note after note was played as Skull Kid danced around, his fairy companions swinging too and fro in an attempt to hit Impa, though she ducked and weaved under them - she had a few close calls, but managed to come out without taking a full hit. Then, Skull Kid stopped playing and Impa thought she had found her opening, but when he turned around again, some sort of laser that was similar to the one Queen Ghoma had fired at her on more than one occasion shot out from either eye on his mask.

The beam connected with her shoulder and she let out a sharp cry of pain, quickly dropping to the ground to let the beams go over her before they caused much more damage. The sleeve of her shirt had a singed hole, and it was still smoking; the skin was already bright red and it certainly felt like a normal burn. It could have ended up a lot worse, so Impa was glad that it had only ended up feeling like a normal burn and not something worse. Skull Kid threw his head back and laughed again, kicking his legs out and pointing down at Impa as she picked herself up again, grabbing her nagitana from where she had thrown it.

Skull Kid's laughter was cut off by a pair of arrows hitting him dead on, though they bounced to the side - clearly he was covered by the same magic that was protecting Impa and Linkle. Speaking of Linkle, it seemed that she had finally recovered from the fairies attack on her and had her crossbows trained on Skull Kid, her own face pulled into a frown as she watched him twist in the air to glare at her. "Give me back my bow and stop hurting people!"

Skull Kid shook his head and crossed his arms firmly over his chest. "No! You didn't beat my game, so you don't get it back!" he said stubbornly, making a raspberry noise at them, though Impa couldn't see his tongue - did Skull Children even _have_ tongues?

She didn't think of it much as she lunged forward with a shout, swinging her nagitana. Part of the staff caught Skull Kid in the side of the head and finally knocked him out of the air. He hit the ground with a grunt and before he could get up again, Impa put her foot firmly on his back to hold him down. Linkle knocked the ocarina he had dropped out of the way before bending down and pulling her compass off his belt and pulling it over her head again.

Impa nodded and turned her attention back to Skull Kid, pressing her heel into his back and making him squirm on the ground. "Now, where did you come from?" She asked, her voice little more than a growl.

Skull Kid continued to squirm on the ground under her foot, whining for a moment before finally giving in. "Fine, fine, I'll show you! Just let me up!" he said, continuing to try and get himself out from under Impa's foot, though his struggling wasn't really working much. He hadn't moved an inch since Impa pinned him.

Linkle bent down and scooped up the ocarina before pulling out a bottle and easily snatching the distracted fairies up. "Fine. But I'm keeping these with me until we get some answers!" she said, flashing Skull Kid a grin before tucking both away and nodding a little.

Impa nodded back and moved her foot, letting Skull Kid stand up and eventually float up again so he was eye level with them. "Lead the way - and remember that I've got my eye on you. I'm not above fighting someone like you," she said in a low voice, nudging Skull Kid in the back with the handle of her nagitana.

Skull Kid grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms over his chest before starting to float along. Impa let him take the lead before following him with Linkle close behind her. He lead her across the roots once again before stopping in front of a shut off room, which he opened with a wave of his hand. On the other side of the wall of vines and branches was another gate, still pulsing with left over magic. "Here. I came through here. Can I have my things back now?"

Linkle didn't respond for a moment, holding her hands out in front of her and flexing them a few times, her eyes wide. "Woah...there's so much magic here I can feel it. What is this thing?" she breathed, watching her hands as she continued clenching her fingers.

"It's a Gate of Time." Ruto and Darunia had appeared not long after Impa and Linkle arrived, making Linkle jump and making Skull Kid huff. "We've had problems with them before, but we thought that it was done until earlier this morning," Ruto explained, looking up at the Gate with a frown and putting her hands on her hips, her bracelets clanking together softly.

Linkle looked back at her as she spoke but turned to look at the Gate again, still looking confused and shocked. "Gate of Time? Where does it lead to?" she asked softly, her question clearly not directed at anyone specifically.

"It leads back to Termina," Skull Kid answered them, sounding oddly serious given what Impa had seen him doing earlier. "And something is wrong. I can feel it." He shot through the gate before the others could answer him, vanishing into the gate with a flash of light.

Impa frowned and looked back at Ruto and Darunia, both of whom nodded at her. "Linkle, you can stay out here and head to the castle. I don't want you getting hurt fighting whatever is on the other side," she explained, looking over at Linkle.

But, not surprisingly, Linkle shook her head. "I want to help you fight! Besides, I still have his things," she pointed out, taking the bottled fairies and the ocarina out of her pockets. "And if I'm going to be a soldier, then I need to be able to fight!" she answered, her voice as firm as her face.

Impa watched her for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Fine. But I want you to be careful." she left it at that before she stepped up to the Gate, waiting to make sure the others were following her before following Skull Kid through the Gate.


End file.
